Iran confiscates over a ton of narcotics a day

TEHRAN, Iran  Iran’s media are reporting that police confiscate over a ton of narcotics a day from smugglers.

Gen. Ali Moayedi, head of Iran’s anti-narcotics police, is quoted by newspapers Sunday as saying that some 30 drug smugglers and addicts are identified and arrested every hour in Iran. He said over 200,000 were detained in the past nine months alone.

Iran lies on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Persian Gulf states.

Moayedi said that over 2,835 pounds are confiscated each day. This represents about a fifth of the total drugs that officials have previously said enter Iran --- of the rest, nearly 700 tons are consumed inside Iran and the remaining 1,300 tons are transited to Europe.